Young Justice (TV series)
Young Justice is an American superhero animated television series developed by Brandon Vietti and Greg Weisman for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros.[3] The series follows the lives of teenage superheroes and sidekicks, namely Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis, who are members of a fictional covert operation group.[4][5] The main setting is a fictional universe apart from the previous DCAU and other continuities, designated at one point as Earth-16,[4] during a time period in which superheroes are a relatively recent phenomenon, and supervillains have all began working in tandem in a grand conspiracy on behalf of a cabal of key villains known as the Light.The Light consist of Vandal Savage, Ra's al Ghul, Lex Luthor, Queen Bee of Bialya, Ocean Master, Brain, and Klarion the Witch Boy.Kid Flash and Artemis have retired, while Aqualad has left the team to be with his villainous long-lost father Black Manta, a member of the Light who replaces Ocean Master.He provides the Reach with evidence that the Light was going to betray them and together with his teammates takes down Black Manta and Brain while Vandal Savage, Ra's al Ghul, and Klarion are evacuating.In addition, they must also deal with the further plots of the Light (who now have Deathstroke, Ultra-Humanite, and Gretchen Goode replacing Ra's al Ghul, Brain, and Black Manta) as well as the appearance of brand-new characters from the planets New Genesis and Apokolips.After it is revealed that the higher-ups of "The Team" discovered that Terra was secretly in league with Deathstroke, Geo-Force kills his tyrannical uncle, becoming the king of Markovia and ending relations with them.Miss Martian and Superboy go to Mars for their wedding ceremony as racial turmoil erupts from the murder of the Martian king and the actions of Miss Martian's revolutionary brother Ma'alefa'ak; Tigress tries to get through to her sister Cheshire as Lady Shiva makes a move to claim possible League of Shadows defectors Onyx, Cassandra Savage, and her mute daughter Orphan; Zatanna and her Sentinels of Magic are faced with the arrival of Child, seeking to replace Klarion as the primary Lord of Chaos; Kaldur'ahm returns to Atlantis as a prophecy involving Ocean Master and Arion reverberates throughout the oceans; Rocket is deployed to New Genesis for Justice League business as the machinations of Apokolips rear their heads; and Nightwing and various other teams of heroes must stop an impending invasion of Kryptonian criminals led by General Zod from escaping from the Phantom Zone, an inter-dimensional prison, who threaten to conquer the galaxy, all the while trying to save one of their own.However, as each Team member deals with their plots, the background narrative of Superboy's presumed death from stopping a gene bomb belonging to Ma'alefa'ak reverberates throughout the mini-arcs, leaving Miss Martian profoundly heartbroken over the loss of her fiancé, further driving Beast Boy into a downward spiral of depression, being the incentive behind Tigress reaching out to Cheshire, Zatanna learning he is still alive in another dimension, Kaldur struggling to hold back his grief, Rocket unknowingly coming into contact with his attempted murderer Lor-Zod, the son of General Zod, while Nightwing finally uncovers the mystery and conspiracy surrounding Superboy's disappearance, discovering he is trapped inside the Phantom Zone and works alongside the original Team to rescue him, which is complicated by Superboy suffering from Zone Sickness and being molded into loyalty to Zod.In the meantime, The Light have captured the Kryptonians on the War World whilst on Apokolips, Darkseid is introduced to the next generation of Furies, consisting of Supergirl and Black Mary.Although Young Justice follows a continuity considerably different from that of the mainstream DC Universe, Weisman has stated that the series covers its early stages.Animation,[33] wanted a show based on the concept of a cross between the Teen Titans and Young Justice series of comics, but was not solely an adaptation of one or the other.[39] Geoff Johns, chief creative officer of DC Entertainment, and Phil Bourassa, lead character designer for the show, also played a role in the conception and development process.[3] The producers intended to create costumes based in reality to match the tone of the series while keeping consistent with traditional DC Universe continuity.[41] In the case of Kid Flash's suit, for instance, the padding serves to reduce the force of impact experienced during skids and collisions, and the leathery texture stabilizes his "human cannonball" momentum.Robin's costume provides bodily protection (even against bullets) in the streets of Gotham City, and is padded and stitched with seams and sewn-in materials.[50] In December 2013, Kevin Smith and Paul Dini had a conversation in an episode of Smith's Fat Man on Batman podcast addressing the 2013 cancellation of Tower Prep (created by Dini), Young Justice, Green Lantern: The Animated Series, claiming that the network executives did not want girls watching the programs because "they don't buy toys," and wanted more boys watching.[81] At their 2017 San Diego Comic-Con panel, it was revealed that the Team line-up would consist of Wonder Girl, Robin (Tim Drake), Blue Beetle, Impulse, Beast Boy, Arsenal, Static and new characters Spoiler, Arrowette and Thirteen.[86] On September 12, 2020, at DC FanDome: Explore the Multiverse, Weisman and Vietti announced that the fourth season would be titled Young Justice: Phantoms."[88] In March 2012, DC Nation garnered double and triple digit ratings gains versus the previous year for Cartoon Network.According to critic Ava Dordi, Spisak "captures the lighthearted essence of Kid Flash well"[91] as well as Nolan North, who producer Greg Weisman notes provides "good separation" between the dual roles he portrays as Superman and Superboy.[citation needed] Geoff Johns took a liking to Kaldur'ahm as Aqualad,[29] who was consequently introduced to mainstream continuity altered in comic book issue No.[104] Young Justice has an official tie-in comic book series outside the television broadcast, expanding on the show's coverage of the continuity.Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani substituted in place of Weisman and Hopps for issues #1–6, due to the latter duo's conflicting schedule and workload.[113] A video game based on the show called Young Justice: Legacy was released in November 2013, for Nintendo 3DS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[117] In addition to toys for the six lead characters, figures of Cheshire, Icicle Jr., Black Canary, Batman, Aquaman, the Flash and Ra's al Ghul have been confirmed as well.Figures include Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Superman, Batman, and the villains Captain Cold and Black Manta.The diner that Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent meet at in the episode "Schooled" makes in appearance in the Batman: Death in the Family interactive film.[citation needed] Characters based on the Young Justice versions of Zatanna, Artemis Crock, Wonder Girl, and Miss Martian, make a cameo appearance as home viewers in Scooby-Doo!